January 2009 — December 2009

Last Sunday I posed some questions for our church family that I believe are crucial for us to consider as we enter a new calendar year. The questions are so important that leadership has felt led to call the church family to a 21 day fast to begin the year (Jan. 4-24). ( Full sermon can be heard here) It was wonderful to recall and thank God for all the amazing things He has done at NLCF over the past year, significant increase in attendance and noticeable increase in commitment. Many are regular attenders where they were sporadic or just ...

Over the next few days I want to draw your attention to some recent posts from members of the New Life family that have captured my attention and challenged my thinking recently. The first is a post from Liz Howeth on the subject of fear. This honest account of the ways fear has prevented her from trying some things was powerful for me as I face what has been my greatest fear. Ever since a close friend in the UK was diagnosed with leukemia and I watched his long fight and finally saw God call him home, fear of cancer has haunted me. Walking ...

““Don’t over do it!” Over the past few weeks I have heard this familiar phrase from many who love and care for me. When I started thinking about it, I found myself entering one of those 'more questions than answers' zones!! How do I know when I am about to…”over do it”? Where is the boundary between “under" (is there such a thing?) and “over” doing it? Last Friday I think I experienced the consequences of “over doing it”. I was looking forward to going to my friend Josh Howeth’s graduation from Seminary (Congratulations Josh!!) but found ...

Today I want to pay tribute to an amazing lady; I have to do it this way because circumstances are such that I am not able to be with her to celebrate her 80th birthday. This lady is Kay Rouillard and she is Mag’s Mom. I have only known her for about three years but a more marked antithesis of all that is said about mothers in law could not be found! I did not have the privilege of meeting her husband, Maggie’s father, as she lost him more that twenty years ago, but I have had the joy of beginning to get to know, not just her but the wonderful ...

So today has not been so good. I am grateful that the healing process from the surgery is proceeding just as the doctor said it would. But as l talk with those who know about the interferon treatment, it seems that the month of January will be like four weeks with the “equivalent of swine flu.” It’s a little daunting. How do I prepare for that? What is that going to do to my precious family, to say nothing of my church family? And then there are the survival statistics. But I read : “And we know that in all things God works for the good ...

To continue the story, in case some of you have not heard, I had some more tissue taken from my heel and the sentinel lymph nodes taken from my left groin. Both nodes had metastatic melanoma present so they ordered a PET scan which came back clear, Praise God. Yesterday I had dissection of the rest of the lymph nodes in my left groin and I am now recovering at home. God provided wonderful staff at Kaiser South City that made the 24hr visit as pleasant as possible under the circumstances. As soon as I have recovered, I am to begin interferon ...

I have had this call three times already, once concerning my late wife Sarah, and then in turn for each of my two sisters. However when the subject of the call is you it adds a completely new dimension to your response! A few weeks ago I asked my doctor about a mark on my heel just to be sure that it was not connected to my Type 2 Diabetes. Following tests on this, seemingly insignificant, mark on my heel that I got “that call” to inform me that it was in fact a melanoma. The implications of that call have not been far from my mind ever ...

So many times this week, as I have been doing my readings in the 90 day Bible and having conversations with others about the passages I have been reminded of the perspective I shared on Sunday from Brian Maclarens book “ A Search for What is Real.” In case you missed them I thought I would share some of the quotations again. Its rather long but well worth the time . . . . I have a confession to make: I have often wondered about the Bible, as I have about the church: "God, couldn't you have done better than this?" If God were trying to give ...

Sometimes the subject of sharing your faith can be so uncomfortable can’t it? If you are anything like me thinking about it just brings back memories of missed opportunities. I recall times I have made excuses or simply just been too scared. The easy answer is to try not to think about it too often but easy answers are rarely the right ones! Recently however I have been reading a book which has been a real encouragement on the subject. (If you are part of New Life you have heard me quote it from the pulpit a number of times in the past few ...

I am sure most of us have heard at some time or another that quote from Socrates “ “The unexamined life is not worth living” It would seem that the writer to the Hebrews was sensing the same danger when he wrote “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away”. Hebrews 2:1. The challenge there is to live an examined life, an intentional life, as we have examined this idea over the past few weeks at New Life we have seen that a good way of training ourselves to be intentional is to make a ...

Most Saturday mornings I look forward to having breakfast at Denny’s with a group of men connected in some way to the NLCF church family. It reminds me that the first part of our mission statement is about connecting and it’s a wonderful opportunity to do just that. Almost invariably I order the same item from the menu, A Grand Slamwich! Yes only Denny’s could come up with such an exciting name for a heart attack on a plate. However I do make one special request (which is also a measurable health improvement!), I ask for “ No mayo! “ I am ...

It seems only a short while ago that we first experienced “doing church” with church families all over the world in ONE PRAYER. Over a period of five weeks last June we joined more that 1500 churches and heard some wonderful teaching, prayed together and contributed to an offering that has resulted in more than 600 (the target was 500!) churches being planted in China, Sudan, India and Cambodia. The exciting thing is that this Sunday this wonderful project begins again! During One Prayer 2009 will hear messages from great teachers some of ...

I have just begun reading Love-The Ultimate Apologetic by Art Lindsley in which he makes a compelling case for the proposition that although people of all faiths and perspective acknowledge the centrality of love it is only the Christian faith the has love at its core. Using atheism and New Age pantheism he suggests that all the others in fact undermine love. When asked the obvious question “Can’t atheists love and forgive” he replies, “Yes of course they can love and forgive, but not because of their atheism.” (emphasis mine) I feel sure ...

Earlier this week I had unexpected meetings with two people who I had not seen for some while. One was a recipient of an invitation to our Easter service and I approached him for an explanation for his absence from the service (our relationship is such that had I not given him a hard time he would have thought I was sick!). The other was a person with whom I spent some time after the tragic death of his wife. We have shared time occasionally since then and after each occasion stated that we did not want to wait so long next time… and we ...

Andy wrote an amazing post yesterday, which encapsulates so much of the joy we have over what God is doing in at New Life. Just a few moments ago Maggie squealed at me from the kitchen, "Jonathan have you read John 21:11!" So here’s your assignment, click on the link above and read Andy’s post (if you haven’t already!) and then (but not before) look up John 21:11. To God be the Glory. Great things He has (and is!!) doing.

When Jesus told the disciples that he was going to send them another Comforter they were more confused than comforted! What they were going to lose was so much more real than anything He suggested they might gain. The Comforter or The Holy Spirit has remained one of the most perplexing and therefore often most neglected aspects of the Christian life ever since. In " Experiencing the Holy Spirit” Henry and Mel Blackaby attempt to rectify this by giving their readers a simple, direct and clear exposition of the gift of Pentecost, In the final ...

So here is the selection of books from my shelves on the subject of prayer. I have grouped them under categories of “read,” “being read,” and “recommended by others” The opinions are entirely mine and I would be only too happy for you to share yours! Books I have read and have found to be a great blessing (Most of these I have read once or twice and continue to dip into frequently): “Deepening your Conversation with God” Ben Patterson A wonderful account of a pastors struggle to build a meaningful prayer life. Honest and clear with many ...

When I share things with the church family on Sunday I am always a little concerned that I give the impression that things like developing my prayer life are easy for me or something I have got pretty well figured out! Well nothing could be further from the truth, I struggle as much if not more than you do! Few things have brought that home to me more than the past couple of days. I have been able to come down for a couple of days of quiet in the Redwoods near Pescadero. Oh, I hear you say if I could do stuff like that then I could get these ...

As promised here are some of the quotes I used on Sunday morning ( along with a few others) “I’d rather learn to pray then to preach” DL Moody “Without practice no Christian will become a real man or woman of prayer and practice cannot be attained without perseverance” O. Hallesby “ Prayer” “As a tree has its root hidden in the ground and its stem growing up into the sunlight, so prayer needs for its equal development the hidden secrecy in which the soul meets God alone and the public fellowship with those who find in the name of Jesus ...

I’ve heard a number of people say when faced with one or another of life’s conundrums “…that’s the first thing I am going to ask Jesus when I meet Him.” In ‘Dinner with a Perfect Stranger” and its sequel “A Day with a Perfect Stranger.” David Gregory imagines what might happen if you did not have to wait. The first book, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger,” begins when Nick Comisky, the principal character, receives an invitation dinner with Jesus. At first the idea of an envelope from Jesus in the mail seems a little trite and I had to work to ...